Abah XII: And Baby Makes Three part 3/3

by Susan Proto (STPteach@aol.com <mailto:STPteach@aol.com>)

Disclaimers in Part 1

Part 9/11

As the paramedics burst through the door, EMT Bonnie Caldwell called out,
"Looks like we got another Baby Snatcher Victim. Only this one has a little
twist," she said to a now curious Dr. Ronald Sinclair.

"Oh yeah? What?" he asked.

"This one's a guy," she responded.

"A guy? I thought the sonofabitch only preyed on little old ladies," Dr.
Sinclair commented.

"Not all of the babies's caretakers were elderly or helpless, though
this poor
guy might fit into the latter category," informed Bonnie. "He's wearing a
medic alert bracelet for a seizure condition. There was a cane nearby and
he's got a hearing deficit to boot; we found one of these in his ear and
another on the ground where he was laying," she said as she handed over the
hearing aids.

"Who is he?" asked Dr. Sinclair.

"Umm, the computer came up with an ID of Mulder. Fox Mulder," Bonnie
reported.

"Did you say Mulder?" asked Dr. Jackie Michaels as she walked into the room.
"Please, tell me you didn't say the name, Mulder."

"I said the name 'Mulder.' Problem?" asked the paramedic.

"Damn! Ronald, this is Samantha Mulder's brother. He's one of the FBI team
members working on that damned case," Dr. Michaels explained.

"Someone call up to pediatrics and get Dr. Mulder down here, STAT!" Dr.
Sinclair ordered. "Okay, Bonnie, what were his vitals coming in?"

As the ER team was brought up to date on Mulder's condition, Valerie
Lee, RN,
walked over to the phone to page Dr. Samantha Mulder to the emergency room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam answered the ER page and was asked to come down, STAT. The staff
informed
her a patient was just brought in that was related to the Baby Snatching
Case.
Sam assumed it was another sitter or grandmother. She was certainly not
expecting the sight she met with when she entered the examining room.

"Ohmigod! Fox?" She looked frantically from one doctor to the next, and then
took a deep breath. Little sister Sam became Dr. Mulder, and brought the ER
staff up to speed on Mulder's physical disabilities.

"He's on 500 milligrams of Tegretrol twice daily," she began. "He's been
prone to grand mal seizures ever since recovering from meningitis a few
years
back. He's suffered a severe hearing loss as a result, and has recently been
on medication for severe ear infections which caused an even greater
disruption in Fox's hearing.

"He's been working on the case with us upstairs, but he'd taken the day
off to
go see his ENT and audiologist. What happened? Where did he get hurt?" she
asked anxiously.

"It was at the medical office on Grand Street," replied Valerie Lee as she
looked over the paramedic's report. "It says here a guy by the name of Denny
Milford called it in on his cab's radio. It says he was running a little
late
in picking up Mr. Mulder and his daughter, and by the time he got there, he
found Mr. Mulder unconscious."

"Oh, Fox. Why do these__." Sam stopped suddenly, stunned. "Oh God, please
tell me you didn't say the cabbie was picking up Fox and his daugher.
Please,
not Sarah," Sam begged.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Mulder, but that's what the report says."

"Where is she? Where is Sarah?" Sam cried out, but she already knew the
answer.

"Sam," interjected Dr. Sinclair, "apparently your brother was found next
to a
stroller. They brought him in assuming he was another victim in the Baby
Snatching Case."

"Oh dear God, no! This can't be. They couldn't have taken Sarah. For God's
sake, she's an infant! Oh God, she's only five months old!" Samantha was
beside herself. She knew she had to contact Dana, and she just didn't know
how she was going to do it without totally losing it. "Damn it, Fox," she
said through tears now, "why you? Why the hell do shitty things always
happen
to you?"

She reached over and grasped his hand. Then she looked up at the ER doctors
and asked them what was his condition.

Sinclair and Michaels both reported he had some bruised ribs, and possibly a
bruised kidney, as well as a concussion. Normally, they would want him
admitted for a twenty-four observation period. However, the fact that Mulder
was on medication for a seizure condition concerned them, as even a mild
concussion can exasperate a seizure condition. They felt it was definitely
best to play it safe and admit him for at least forty-eight hours.

Sam knew the forty-eight hour period was best, however it was not going
to be
easy to convince Mulder of that fact once he became more coherent. She knew
her brother; he was going to demand to be back in the conference room as
soon
as possible.

Sam also knew she had to reach Dana and let her know what was going on. She
dialed the Mulder home but only received the answering machine. Sam
certainly
did not want to leave a message with this horrific information. She
needed to
find Scully, but she wasn't sure of her cell phone number. However, it
dawned
on her that Mulder would probably have it on his cellular's speed dial.

She went rummaging through his coat pocket and found his cellular. Sure
enough, her cell number was third on the list, but unfortunately the
cellular
was turned off when Sam called. "Damn!" she cursed aloud. "Where the hell
are you, Dana?"

Sam watched as Mulder was getting prepped to be brought upstairs to a
medical
floor. Before they moved the gurney, Sam went to her brother's side and
tried
to gain his attention. "Fox! Fox, please, where is Dana?"

Mulder felt the pressure of someone pushing and pulling on his shoulders. It
hurt. Everything hurt. His head hurt, and his chest hurt when he breathed,
and his side hurt. A lot. And the last thing he wanted to feel was jostled.

"Fox!" cried out Sam into his ear. Mulder opened his eyes to see exactly
what
it was that was causing his head to jar about. He saw Sam.

Suddenly, Fox had a look of absolute terror in his eyes. He'd felt
groggy and
achy as if someone had just beaten him up. He remembered the bastard hitting
him and kicking him, because he'd thrown up on his shoes. His ugly, brand
new, alligator shoes. Mulder remembered being held against his will, and all
he wanted to do was go home to Scully. But he couldn't.

Alex Krycek wouldn't let him. The sonofabitch kept sending his damned
henchman, Edgar Franks, to beat the living crap out of him. He didn't think
he could live through any more of it. He hurt, and he was tired. He was so
tired and in pain.

"Fox," Sam pleaded, "Where is Dana?"

Mulder looked at his sister in surprise. She knows about Dana? How could she
know about Dana? And then it slowly dawned on him this was not the time when
Krycek kidnapped him so long ago. This was years later, after he'd gotten
married and became a father.

A father. The baby. Mulder suddenly realized he was supposed to be watching
the baby. "'Tah-wah? 'Tam? Where is 'Tah-wah?" he asked repeatedly, slowly
becoming more frantic each time he asked.

"I don't know, Fox. You were attacked and __." Mulder cut her off. He was
having trouble concentrating, since his head hurt as did various other parts
of his body. He couldn't focus long enough on Sam's mouth to lip read with
any comprehension.

"Ai's? I go' new aiDs today," he remembered aloud. Sam nodded and found them
on the table. She handed them to Mulder, and he put them in his ears.
Luckily, they were still in working order.

"'Tam __. Sam, where is Sawuh? Sam, wha' happene' to my daughter?"

"I don't know, Fox. She was missing from her stroller when they found you."

"Oh, GoD. Oh, GoD," he moaned over and over again.

"Fox, where is Dana?" Fox had closed his eyes and continued to moan and even
rock a little back and forth in an effort to console himself. He didn't hear
Sam.

"Fox, please," she said as she jostled his shoulder a little. "Fox, where is
Dana. Her cellular is off, and she needs to know what has happened."

Mulder's eyes opened suddenly with an expression of such horror, Sam thought
he was going to begin seizing right then and there. "Oh GoD! I tol' her it
was okay. I tol' her I coul' wa'ch her. Oh God, Sam. I lo't her. I lo't
Sawuh. Scuh-y twusteD me. She twusted me!" He closed his eyes again for a
moment and then said in a monotone, "Scuh-y's at Quantico. She's
teaching the
Level Thwee Anatomy course."

He then opened his eyes and quietly said, "Sam? Call Abah. Please?"

Samantha nodded and immediately dialed the Assistant Director's Office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walter hung up the phone; his hands were still shaking. Samantha asked
him to
notify Scully. Tell Scully 'Your husband was beaten up within an inch of his
life, and he's been admitted for a forty-eight hour observation period. Oh,
and by the way, your baby is missing too. "God. Damn. It," he seethed. He
pounded his fist in such anger and then screamed, "God damn it!" so
loudly Kim
came running in to see what was wrong.

"Sir?" she asked tentatively.

The AD never looked at Kim. He kept his eyes focused on the pain he was
feeling in his right hand. He spoke, in a quiet, almost too calm, monotone
and said, "Please get Quantico on the line. Agent Scully is teaching a class
there, and I need to speak with her PDQ. Kim nodded her assent and left to
put in the call.

She buzzed Skinner when she'd reached Quantico. Walter picked up the phone
and asked someone to contact Dana Scully and to have her call back Assistant
Director Walter Skinner immediately. While Walter waited, he asked Kim to
connect his other line with Maggie. Neither conversation was going to be an
easy one for him to have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the student showed up at the classroom door with the written message,
'Agent Scully, Please call AD Skinner immediately.,' Scully knew
something was
horribly wrong. She just didn't know to what degree of horrible it was.

"Walter, it's Dana," she said with anxiety.

"Dana," he began, "Fox was assaulted. He's been admitted to GWU Medical
Center."

"Ohmigod, is he all right?" she asked.

"He's got bruised ribs and a bruised kidney. He's also suffered a
concussion, and the doctors are concerned because of the seizure
condition."

"Has he had a seizure?" she asked concerned.

"I don't know, Dana. No one mentioned it to me over the phone."

"You said he's been admitted, right?" she asked.

"Yes," he responded with dread as to where the conversation was going to go
next.

"Well, at least Sam can watch Sarah until I get there," Dana said with some
relief.

"Dana__," Walter began. He had to stop though, since he was totally
unsure as
to how best to handle this. Whether he hedged or told her straight out,
Scully was still going to take the news of Sarah's kidnapping badly.
Hell, he
was taking it badly. It was his granddaughter. His granddaughter.

"Dana, Fox was attacked, and the baby was taken."

Dana didn't say a word. She couldn't. She felt as if someone had made a fist
and delivered a sucker punch to her gut. She began to breath quickly; too
quickly. If she wasn't careful, Scully was going hyperventilate and faint
right there in the hallway.

"Please, please tell me they didn't take the baby. Walter, tell me it's a
mistake and the baby is in the hospital nursery with Sam?" she pleaded
quietly.

"No, Sweetheart, it's no mistake," Skinner replied as gently as possible.
"Oh, Dana, I am so sorry. God, I don't know what to do, damn it!" He nearly
slammed his fist back down on the table top, but he stopped himself before
he'd broken any bones in his hand.

"I'll send a car for you and meet you at the hospital. I need to call your
mother now."

"Walter? Please, they've got to find my baby before they do that_____ ,
before they hurt her. Please, Abah, find my baby."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After hanging up the phone with both his step-daughter and wife, Walter
arranged for agents to pick up Scully from Quantico and Maggie from the
house
in Maryland and bring them to the medical center. Maggie, who wasn't feeling
well in the first place, was very upset when she'd heard Fox had been hurt.
Yet, when Walter told her the baby was missing, she was able to find a sense
of self-control that amazed him.

"Maggie, are you all right?" he'd asked in concern at her sudden state of
calm.

"I have to be. I know what it's like to have children taken," she'd replied.
"First Dana had been abducted and then Missy was killed. Then we had to
endure Fox's kidnapping after he'd been so ill," she'd recalled. "I know
what
hell feels like, Walter. I need to be strong for my children; they need to
know they will survive this no matter what the outcome, just like me."

Walter had murmured to her, "I love you Margaret Scully-Skinner; I love your
compassion and your strength."

Then she'd said something that demonstrated just how much she loved him. "I
know. I can cry later with you, Walter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was one more phone call to make. Walter listened to the phone ring
several times before it was finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Elizabeth. It's Walter Skinner."

"Walter? This is a surprise." Elizabeth Mulder paused momentarily, and then
added, "So I suspect it's not good news, is it?"

"No, Elizabeth, it's not. Fox was assaulted today while he was at the
doctor's office."

"How bad?" she asked with surprising calm.

"Bad enough to warrant a hospital stay," he responded.

"Do I need to come to DC?" she asked.

Walter could never understand this about Elizabeth Mulder. He wondered why
any mother or father, for that matter, would ask such a question. If your
child was injured, then you go to him. You don't ask if you should or
shouldn't. What made her ask the question in the first place?

"Elizabeth, it's not just that Fox was hurt." He hesitated for a moment. He
wondered if she would react more appropriately to the news he was about to
give her. "Elizabeth, Sarah was kidnapped."

"What? Sarah?" she echoed.

"Yes. Sarah was abducted when Fox was assaulted."

Then Elizabeth asked something that struck Walter as just a little odd. She
asked, "Does Jack know?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walter sat there and continued to observe a nervous tremor in his hands.
Sometimes extreme stress would send an unexpected reminder that Walter had
recovered from a stroke less than a year ago. He sat at the table and
wondered if his hands would ever be still again.

He stood up and put his suit jacket on. He walked into the outer office and
apprised Kim of the situation.

"Oh, Sir, I am so sorry. Is there anything I can do?" Kim asked in
sympathy.

"Cancel any appointments I had for the rest of the day, and I suspect
tomorrow's as well. We'll go day to day from that point on. If Jack Stein
shows up, would you please tell him to meet me at the GWU medical
center? I'm
going to meet my wife and step-daughter there."

"Yes, Sir. If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to call.
My prayers are with you for Mr. Mulder and the baby, Sir."

The AD expressed his thanks and left the office. How he made it to the
hospital was anyone's guess. Skinner drove as if in a fog. He didn't
remember even leaving the Bureau parking lot, when he suddenly found himself
at the hospital entrance. Skinner, disturbed at his own lack of focus,
parked
the car and entered the hospital.

He found Mulder had already been admitted to a room and found his way up to
the fifth medical wing. When he arrived at room 504 he saw Samantha waiting
outside.

"Samantha!" Walter called out. "How is he?"

"He's seizing," Sam replied soberly. "Between the stress of Sarah's
kidnapping and the concussion, I know I shouldn't have been surprised ,
but I
was. It's been going on for a long time."

"How long?" Skinner asked quickly.

"It was over three minutes at last count. I'd guess it's around four minutes
by now. Too damned long," she murmured almost to herself. "The doctors are
debating whether to administer any other meds for now. I convinced them to
wait for Dana before they changed his medication, since she would have a
much
better idea of how he might react."

"I think that's a good idea. To wait for Dana, that is. She's going to want
to see how he is before she agrees to fooling around with his medication."

By the time the medical team came out of Mulder's room some twenty minutes
later, Dana had arrived. She went to Walter and immediately asked him if
there
were any word on Sarah. He sadly shook his head in response.

"Dana," Sam interrupted, "the doctors need to speak with you about Fox's
medication. He was seizing, and they're considering changing his meds
temporarily."

"Oh God, Mulder _," she cried out. "Where is he?"

"Wait Dana, the doctors are still in with him. They'll be out in a minute or
two," assured Samantha.

Dana began pacing back and forth. She needed to be doing something. She
wanted to go in to see her husband. She needed to see he was all right, so
she could concentrate her energies on finding her baby. She was used to
having to deal with Mulder and his medical problems; it had become almost a
way of life for both of them. But having to deal with their missing child;
that was foreign to her. She didn't know where to even begin in dealing with
that.

And how was Mulder going to deal with it? Scully knew her husband; she knew
he would blame himself for something that was beyond his control. How
was she
going to help him accept his lack of super human powers?

She continued pacing back and forth. She waited for the doctors to come out
of Mulder's room. She figured they would suggest putting him on
Phenobarbital, but she would never allow it because she knew Mulder would
never allow it. That particular drug, though highly effective in
reducing the
number and severity of seizures, rendered Mulder totally nonfunctioning.

If she knew her husband, the last thing he would want to be was
nonfunctioning. Their child was missing, and he would demand to be allowed
to go back to work. Scully would recommend Dilantin as an alternative. He
was foggy when placed on that particular drug, but he could still function.

Moments later the doctors did exit Mulder's room, and just as she'd
anticipated they recommended the Phenobarbital. When Scully explained her
husband's negative reaction to that drug in the past, they agreed to
first try
increasing the Tegretrol another hundred milligrams per dose and then,
if that
did not work, they would administer the Dilantin.

Now that was settled, she demanded to go in to see her husband. The doctors
told her he was sleeping, and appeared to be rather out of it as the seizure
he'd just had was well over four minutes. Scully was beside herself. She
needed to talk to her husband. She needed to see for herself he was going to
be okay, and more importantly, she needed him to see she didn't blame him.

She knew he'd do that all too well on his own. "I've got to talk to
him," she
cried out. Skinner went to grasp her arm, but she pulled away. "No!" she
shouted. "No! I've got to see him. I need to hear what happened, so I can
tell him it wasn't his fault."

"You'll tell him when he wakes up," reassured Skinner. "He needs to sleep
now, Dana. You know that."

Dana pulled out of Walter's grasp and began her frantic pacing once
again. "I
need to hear what happened. I need to see him. I need to talk to him," she
repeated over and over again. Scully's grief over her husband's
condition and
her missing child overwhelmed her. Tears flowed uncontrolled down her face.
Just as it seemed she might collapse, Maggie Skinner appeared in the
doorway.

Maggie reached out to her daughter and Dana practically flung herself
into her
mother's waiting arms. Maggie looked over towards her husband as she
held her
sobbing daughter, "I think we need to ask one of the doctors for
something to
help Dana rest. Would you do that? And then you go sit with Fox, Walter.
Let me be with Dana for a little while, but you need to be with our son."

Walter went into his son-in-law's room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mulder laid on his back, but his face was turned away from the door. Walter
called his name softly but then realized if Mulder had had a seizure, he was
probably now sound asleep. He peeked over on the other side of the bed and
discovered his hunch was correct. The doctors gave Scully some valium to
help her calm down and was resting with her mother in the waiting room.
Mulder would probably sleep for at least an hour, and Walter was actually
grateful for the reprieve.

One hour longer before Fox asked whether his daughter was found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mulder in fact slept for almost two and half hours, which was enough
time for
Jack Stein to charter a private commuter plane for Elizabeth Mulder to join
her disjointed family. Jack arrived with Elizabeth and both greeted Samantha
in the waiting room.

"Hello, dear," Elizabeth said as she reached out to embrace her daughter in
tentative hug. As much as Elizabeth had looked forward to the return of her
little girl for all of those many years, she was never quite sure what to do
with the grown-up woman that materialized.

"Hi, Mom," she said and attempted, albeit without much success, to
deepen the
hug. She then turned to Jack, who embraced her without hesitation, and said,
"Hello, Abah."

Jack kissed her sweetly on the forehead and then asked, "I take it the
Skinners are in with Dana and Fox?" When Sam shook her head, Jack was
surprised. "Where are they?"

"Walter is in with Fox, but Dana's with Maggie for now," Sam replied.

"Something wrong?" Elizabeth asked..

"Of course something is wrong, Mom," Sam said in an exasperated tone.
"Dana's
husband was attacked and sustained a concussion which only served to
exacerbate his seizure condition. Their daughter was kidnapped right out of
her father's arms for which he will assume full responsibility even
though he
had no control over the situation, and Dana doesn't know who or what to
worry
about first; her husband or her daughter. So, yes, something is wrong."

"Samantha, I will not be spoken to in that tone. I was merely wondering why
she was not in with Fox," said a very irritated Elizabeth.

"Mom, calm down. I'm sorry. I'm upset too. I've seen what those bastards do
to those babies," Sam apologized. She went on to explain that the doctors
gave Dana a tranquilizer to help her calm down.

Sam tried to reach out to her mother, but she was behaving more distant
towards her than ever. Sam assumed it was because her mother was upset about
her brother's condition, and the fact that Sarah was missing. However, Sam
had also learned to never assume anything with regards to her mother's
behavior.

"I want to see my son," she said firmly. Sam nodded and led her and Jack to
her brother's room. She opened the door and saw Walter sitting quietly next
to Fox's bed, making light contact with Fox's hand.

"Hello, Elizabeth. Jack," Skinner acknowledged. They'd become uneasy allies
in their attempt to become a family, however Skinner never came to fully
trust
Stein or Elizabeth for that matter. Neither ever gave him a true reason to
fully trust them.

"How is he, Walter?" asked Elizabeth quickly. "What do the doctors say?"

"Elizabeth, I'm sure Samantha gave you a full report. You can see for
yourself, he's sleeping," he replied a little more tersely than he'd
intended.

Mulder's eyes fluttered open. He immediately saw his Abah sitting next to
him, holding his hand. Mulder tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry, and
it made his voice too raspy.

"Elizabeth, would you hand me a glass of water?" Walter asked. Elizabeth
poured the water into a glass and popped the straw into the glass as well.
She was tempted to try and offer it to Fox herself, but at the last second
decided it wasn't necessary to go for a power play. She handed the water to
Skinner and waited quietly.

Walter held the glass for Mulder while he sipped greedily. Mulder could have
probably held the glass himself, but he needed his Abah close by and didn't
try to stop his gesture of help.

"How are you feeling, Fox?" Stein asked.

He let the straw slip from his lips and responded, "I'm fi'e, but I'm
no' sure
wha' happene'."

Samantha explained to him what had transpired over the last few hours, and
with each passing detail, Sam and the others saw Mulder's expression
grow more
and more pained. "I'm sorry, Fox. I'm so sorry."

"Fox, is there anything you remember about the incident that can help us
identify this bastard?" Skinner asked,.

Mulder took in as deep of a breath as his bruised ribs allowed and then
concentrated as hard as his aching head allowed. Suddenly he remembered
something. The shoes. The damned alligator shoes, and what did the
sonofabitch say to him?

"Wha' di' he say to me?" Mulder asked himself aloud.

"What did _who_ say to you, Fox?" asked Skinner.

"The man with the shoes. The alligator shoes, Abah," Mulder said barely
above
a whisper. The former agent berated himself for not remembering everything
more quickly. There was a time he could recall minutia detail and make giant
leaps of logic in seconds. Now, he could barely remember what someone
said to
him just hours before.

And then, just as suddenly, he remembered. "'This is for ruinin' my las'
pair
of shoes.' Oh. Oh, no!" the younger man gasped.

"What is it, Fox?" asked the AD, who prayed Mulder was able to recall
just the
detail they needed to find Sarah unharmed.

"The shoes. I t'rew up on his shoes once. Oh God, Abah. It was that
asshole, Frank'. EdgaR FrankS," he said tremulously.

Stein looked at Mulder with wide eyes. "Krycek's man?"

"Yes," Mulder whispered in reply.

"I thought they were in jail," interjected Sam quickly.

"Oh. Well, they were," replied Jack. "They were."

"What do you mean, 'they _were_?" growled Skinner in his best AD snarl.

"Just that, Walter," replied Stein as calmly as he could make his own voice
said . "They were in jail."

"And now they're out," Skinner said in response. "And now they're out!"
cried
out Skinner a little bit louder. "You sonofabitch! You got them out! You
got them out!" Skinner now screamed at Stein.

He then turned quickly to Elizabeth and said in a voice that dripped of
venom,
"And you knew, which explains why you asked___. My God, Elizabeth, you
knew!"

Elizabeth and Stein looked at one another briefly and with little emotion.
Stein was the one who spoke up first.

"Yes, I knew Krycek was released. In fact, it was I who arranged for his
release. I did not know they freed the little henchman as well, however."

"You had that bastard released?" cried out Skinner incredulously. "What the
hell is wrong with you? Don't you realize what he did to Mulder? Don't you
realize he was responsible for almost killing him?

"And what about Samantha? Your daughter! Why would you have that asshole
released and place your own daughter in danger too? I don't understand you,
Stein." Skinner then whipped around to face Elizabeth. "And you! I don't
understand you at all. Whose game are you playing, Elizabeth? I mean it's
obvious you're one of the major players, but I'm still having a tough time
figuring out whose side of the playing field you're on, damn it!"

Without warning, Mulder spoke in a choked voice. "Why? Why did you let him
out so he coul' ta'e my daughter. Mom? Sarah is your only granddaughter, for
God's sa'e. Why? Why did you let this happen?"

Stein didn't know how he was going to convince Mulder of his and Elizabeth's
innocence. Hell, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to convince himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Part 9/11
Abah 12: And Baby Makes Three
by Susan Proto (STPteach@aol.com)

Disclaimers in Part 1

Part 10/11

Skinner stood up to his full six foot one bulk and lunged at him. He grabbed
him by the shirt collar, pulled, and then twisted it in his hands until
it was
taut enough to make a difference in his breathing.

"You sonofabitch," he seethed. "You no good sonofabitch! You know what that
little rat bastard did to them! Why?" he hissed into Stein's ear.

"Walter, let him go," interjected an irritated Elizabeth Mulder. "Jack
didn't
have a choice, Walter, enough!"

Skinner reluctantly released his hold on Stein's collar, and simply said
through clenched teeth, "Speak."

Stein lightly rubbed his neck, cleared his throat and said, "I received word
from a confidante Krycek had access to some rather startling technology."

"What kind of technology?" asked Skinner in a flat tone. He really wasn't in
the mood for excuses, but he did want an explanation.

"A technology that if placed in the wrong hands, could set the consortium's
project back at least twenty years," interjected Elizabeth.

"And so you agreed with him to get Krycek released?" asked Skinner. "Are you
crazy? Are you both crazy? Look what the little bastard has done already?
Damn it, do you have any conception as to what he's done?"

"Mom, Jack__," Samantha began, as she found herself unable to use her usual
endearment for him. "You know Alex's track record. My God, the last time he
did his 'rebel with a cause' imitation, he played with the lives of innocent
children too. These babies are in vegetative states. Do you have any idea
what that means? And what about Sarah? What about your granddaughter, Mom?"
Samantha was pleading with the couple standing before her. She was trying so
hard to understand.

"It can be reversed," said Stein.

"What? What can be reversed?" asked Skinner.

"The children's conditions. It can be reversed. Krycek is controlling the
entire thing," explained Stein.

"Krycek is whaT" asked the startled voice from the bed.

"He's controlling it, Fox," replied Stein calmly. "The children have be
exposed to something called a nanomachine. They've implanted themselves in
the children's blood streams. Krycek controls their effects via remote
control."

"But we've run tests! There's been no indicators that anything unusual was
implanted in the children's bodies," exclaimed Samantha in exasperation.

"Oh shit!" Mulder called out in disgust.

"Fox, what?" asked Samantha.

"It wasn' the law firm. It's here, at the ho'tpital. The connection is here,
God damn it! It's you, Sam. You're the connection, little sister," he said
as he looked at his sister. "He still resent' your rejection of him, Sam.
You've got to call Eric. We've got to get a li't of the new hire' for the
ho'tpital. He' here.

"An' we got to figure out exactly where in the body' of tho'e children
the__,
the__, what the hell did you call it?" he asked as he looked at Stein
expectantly.

"Nanomachine."

"Yeah, Scully can he'p you on tha', righ' Scully?" he asked as he looked
around the room. When he saw she was not in the room his face took on first
an expression of confusion, and then he became totally crestfallen.

She blamed him for losing Sarah. That was the only possible reason she
wasn't
there. He began breathing more rapidly; he felt himself becoming
lightheaded. This increased the pain in his rib cage. The harder he tried to
take a deep breath, the shallower his breathing became. He thought he'd
never
be able to take a deep breath again.

"Fox," Walter shouted at him, as he grabbed his hand to shake it. Fox's Abah
knew exactly what was going through the younger man's mind; Walter knew why
Mulder was hyperventilating. "Fox, Dana had gone into shock after
finding out
you were hurt and the baby was missing. She wanted to come into you, but the
doctors wanted you to sleep off the seizure, and they gave her something to
help her calm down. We'll get her now, Fox. You'll see, she doesn't blame
you. Not at all, Son. I swear to you."

Sam instinctively knew her brother needed to see his wife and was already on
her way to the waiting room to look for Maggie and Dana. Both Maggie and
Dana
had fallen asleep, which everyone concerned felt was the best thing for both
women while Mulder had slept. Now that he was awake, however, and obviously
pushing himself to get back to work, the best thing they could do was bring
Dana into the room to reassure him, and make him slow down.

Maggie awoke first, looked up and saw Sam. "Is he awake?" she asked.

"Yes. He's trying to get out of bed to go back to work."

Maggie managed to laugh, knowing full well her son-in-law would stop at
nothing to get back on the job. Dana stirred at the sound of her mother's
voice.

"Mom? What's going on?" Dana asked groggily.

"Fox is awake, sweetheart. He needs to see you," Maggie answered.

"Mulder's awake? Is he okay? Oh God, where is he? Sam?" she questioned,
still groggy from sleep and valium, "is he okay?"

"He's upset, Dana. He wants to go back to work," she replied.

"I have to see my husband." Dana stood up and swayed ever so slightly from
the aftereffects of the valium. She wasn't one to take medication too often,
so when she did, it tended to have a strong effect on her.

''Dana, before you go in, I have to tell you something. I have to tell you
both something," Sam said with some trepidation. When both women nodded for
her to continue, Sam said, " Jack and my mother apparently know who's behind
the Baby Snatchings. They apparently know who attacked Fox and took Sarah."

"Who?" they both said in tandem.

"Alex Krycek. He's apparently introduced some electronic device into the
children and can control its effects by remote control," Sam explained.

"Ohmigod," responded Scully knowingly, "the sonofabitch has been here all
along. It's been the hospital that's the connection."

"Fox thinks it's more than that," Sam interjected. At Maggie's and Dana's
questioning expression, she explained, "He thinks it's me. I'm the
connection. He seems to think Krycek is seeking some kind of revenge for my
rejecting him way back when."

Dana looked a little stunned when she realized the battered bodies of those
little babies in the isolation ward were just the precursors to having
her own
baby taken. All because a little ratbastard couldn't get over being turned
down.

She was going to kill him. After her baby was safely back in her arms, there
was no doubt in her mind. She was going to kill Krycek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam quickly filled Dana and Maggie in with the roles Jack and Elizabeth had
played in the scenario, and also described in great detail how Walter very
eagerly and attentively tried to twist Jack's head off of his neck. Neither
woman expressed any great remorse over that act. For that matter,
neither did
Sam.

Maggie felt it was best for her to remain in the waiting room for now. She
knew she was running a slight fever, and with Fox's immune system most
likely
compromised, she didn't want to expose him unnecessarily to more germs. As
she watched her daughter and Samantha leave, she called out to them,
"Give Fox
my love."

By the time the two young women entered Mulder's room, Dana was fully lucid
and realized she was going to have her hands full in terms of getting Mulder
back into bed. She saw he was up and out of the bed already.

"Fox Mulder, where the hell do you think you're going?" Scully asked
determinedly.

"To wor', and I nee' you at my si'e on this one, G-Woman," he said firmly.

"Oh, Mulder, you have a concussion. This is not wise."

"I never sai' I was wise," he said. Then he looked at her and with pools of
tears forming in his eyes, he tried to apologize. "Dana, I didn' mean to
_____."

But Scully rushed right up to him and placed her index finger up to his lips
and immediately urged him to, "Shhh. You didn't do anything wrong, G-Man, do
you hear me? _You_ were a victim here, my love. _You_ were the one beaten
up. We'll find Sarah. Together. You'll see, we'll find her, and she'll be
fine. She'll be fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No amount of begging, pleading, or cajoling could convince Mulder to stay in
bed. The only compromise they could get him to make was he'd stay in his
robe
and a wheelchair with the IV drip attached to maintain his fluids and
medication. So while Samantha led Scully to the labs to do some more
research
on the so-called nanomachines, Mulder was back in the conference room.

He joined Eric, Hill, Sorenson, and Thornwood much to their surprise. In
fact, when Walter had wheeled Mulder's wheelchair in, Hill looked up and
asked, "What the hell are you doing here, Mulder?"

"Same thing you're doin' here, Agen' Hill," he replied determinedly, and
then
with a straight face added, "Oh, an' by the way, le' me introdu'e my father-
in-law." At that, Thornwood, Sorenson, and Hill simply nodded their heads
politely. Obviously office gossip didn't travel as far as everyone had
thought, since no one apparently recognized their connection with the broad
shouldered, burly man with glasses.

"Umm, gen'lemen? Thi' is Assistan' Director Walter Skinner." With that the
three heads popped up like a clowns in toy jack-in-the boxes. The three
immediately stood almost at attention, including Hill, which nearly reduced
Eric Benton to tears he was laughing so hard.

"Sir, no disrespect intended. We__, we weren't made aware that you, umm,
that
you were going to participate in this investigation," Hill stammered.

"No offense taken, Agent Hill," said the AD who obviously did his
homework and
knew exactly which agent was which.

Hill stepped back towards Benton and through clenched teeth growled, "You
could have warned us, damn it." Benton was still smirking, but he did manage
to say he thought everyone had been aware of the relationship Mulder had to
the AD. He'd thought it was common knowledge how the AD had taken a personal
interest in Mulder when he'd first become ill.

The fact that Benton hadn't learned about it until he'd started dating
Samantha was a fact he planned on keeping to himself. Mulder brought Benton
out of his reverie when he asked, "Did you get that li't of new hire'
for the
ho'pital?"

"Yes, Mulder," he answered, "right here."

Mulder looked through the list of names. At first, he'd figured Franks would
have been the most likely choice to be working at the hospital since Mulder
couldn't imagine Krycek taking any kind of menial job. However, the more
Mulder considered it, the more he realized Krycek was indeed working in the
medical center, and probably very close to where the babies were housed.

Stein had said Krycek was controlling the babies' conditions through a
remote
control device. Stein hadn't been able to indicate a minimum or maximum
distance Krycek needed to be from in order for the device to work
effectively.
Mulder figured it couldn't be too far away, and most likely, Krycek would
probably want to be close enough to witness his destruction.

So, Mulder concluded Krycek was definitely in the hospital, while Franks was
left the task of actually abducting the babies. Mulder's hands began to
shake
a bit at the thought of that bastard's hands on his daughter.

His daughter. He was able to hear Scully's admonitions that Sarah's
abduction
was not his fault, but of course Mulder could never wholly believe that. He
couldn't help but think if he were physically stronger, or more visually
observant, or had better hearing, or had anyone of a number of more positive
attributes, his daughter would be safe at home with his Scully right now.

Never mind that Sarah was the target all along. Never mind the fact that
Krycek would have found a way of taking Sarah, no matter who was with
her. It
suddenly occurred to Mulder it could have been Scully who was assaulted, or
even Maggie. Mulder finally accepted the fact that Krycek would have stopped
at nothing to kidnap Sarah. Even if it meant Franks would have had to
fatally
shoot him.

Or Scully. Or Maggie.

Mulder shuddered at the thought of losing two of the most important women in
his life. There was already one missing, and that was one too many.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's bot' of 'dem," Mulder declared.

"What?" asked Thornwood.

"Sorry," Mulder said. "I saiD, 'it's boTH of THem."

"Both of who, Mulder?" asked Skinner.

"Both Krycek and Franks THat worK in the hoSpital. Look," he said as he
pointed to the list. Sorenson saw a number of names, but none that seemed in
any way unusual. When Sorenson shrugged his shoulders in confusion, Mulder
continued and spoke as clearly as he could.

"These two were hire' one day after the other. Fir't is Edward Franklin from
the maintenance crew. Then, the next day, Alexander Sergei is hired as an
orderly. God, Walter, he use' the name 'Sergei'," he remarked as he
looked at
his father-in-law.

At the questioning look of the other agents, Walter alleviated the curiosity
by explaining his middle name was Sergei. The others nodded in appreciation
of being clued in to the information. "Go on, Mulder," encouraged Skinner.

"F'wanklin was w'itten up for ta'wdiness on five dates. Look at the dates,
and do the math," concluded Mulder.

Sorenson and the others looked over Mulder's shoulder. The five dates
coincided with the dates the babies were snatched, including today, when
Sara
was taken. There apparently was never a problem with his time clock on the
days the children were returned to the medical center.

"What about Sergei? What's his story?" asked Thornwood.

"He's a floater between the third, fourth, and fifth floors. The peds
unit is
within easy access," concluded Mulder.

"So, let's find him. What the hell does he look like, anyway?" asked
Thornwood.

"Does it matter?" asked Benton. Both Thornwood and Sorenson shot him a
look of
incredulity.

"What I think my partner means is," interjected Hill, "is he probably won't
look that way now. He's got to be smart enough to be wearing a disguise,
no?"

The novice pair looked at Hill sheepishly and nodded their agreement. "But,
at least it would give us a start, wouldn't it?" asked Sorenson.

Mulder nodded in agreement and went to work on his laptop. He brought up an
FBI personnel database and searched for Krycek's name. A photo of him
came up
in living color.

"Damn, he's just a kid," Hill muttered.

"This was taken a few years ago, so he's aged a bit. He's a little younger
than me," said Mulder.

Hill nodded. "We'll take a walk around the hospital, and see if we can spot
him. I think we should know who we're dealing with," he instructed.

Skinner stood up and told Mulder he was going to go check in with Scully to
see if she'd learned anything. He wanted to do a quick check around the
hospital too. He was going stir crazy just sitting around, and not being as
helpful as he wanted to be. Besides, he needed to check in with Kim to
see if
any information came his way at the office.

"I'll be back within the hour, Fox," he said as he gave his son-in-law a
quick
squeeze on the shoulder. Skinner then hesitated for a moment, but decided to
hell with what others thought, and leaned down towards Mulder who remained
seated in the wheelchair. Skinner brushed Mulder's forehead with his
lips and
gave him a gentle kiss.

"I'll see you later, Abah," Mulder whispered as he watched Skinner leave.

Thornwood, Sorenson, and Benton looked only slightly uncomfortable,
while Hill
appeared to want to crawl into a hole somewhere after witnessing the display
of affection between his superior and Mulder. He left immediately with
Sorenson and Thornwood. Benton, on the other hand, remained behind with
Mulder. "How ya doin'?" Benton asked.

"Fi'e. I'm doin' fi'e."

"How come I think you're lying through your teeth?" Benton asked with a hint
of a smile.

"Cause I am," was the quick reply.

"Thought so," Eric said. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes. I'm just
gonna take a quick walk around, so hang tight till we come back, okay? I
mean, Sam has told me about your propensity for ditching your partners, so
don't do it, please?"

Mulder nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, Mulder hadn't counted on Krycek and Franks coming to him, yet no
sooner had Benton left the conference room, had the two dark angels of hell
materialized before Mulder's eyes.

At first, Mulder didn't recognize Krycek. He stood before him with a rather
odd looking hairstyle which resembled more of a blond beach bum look than
anything else. It was much longer than what he'd have expected would meet
acceptable hospital standards, but Mulder supposed Krycek pulled it back
with
an elastic during work periods.

Franks, however, didn't look too differently from the last ordeal he had to
endure with him. He still had a paunch, and he still wore the alligator
shoes. Mulder wished he could projectile vomit right then and there.

"Where is she?" asked Mulder as calmly as possible. He didn't know if the
two men were armed. He had to assume they were. He also didn't want to
jeopardize his baby's life by acting too cocksure of himself with the
two scum
bags that stood before him.

"And hello to you too, Mulder," responded Krycek. "Long time no see."

"NoT long enough, Krycek," Mulder retorted with clarity. "What ha'e you done
with my daughter?" he asked again, with a little more force this time.

"Now, now, Mulder. Let's not be too hasty here. You want something I have
access to, and I want something you have access to," offered Krycek.

"I don't work full time for the FBI anymore, Krycek. I don' have access to
their sources li'e I once did," Mulder said.

"Oh, I'm not talking about anything like that. Besides, I have your mother
and her lover to take care of that kind of information," Krycek retorted
with
a bit of a leer. At that, Mulder couldn't help but react, and he quickly
started to rise out of his wheelchair.

Of course, that was the exact moment both Franks and Krycek decided to show
their weapons. Their very big, very loaded, weapons.

"Ya want me to take care of him, boss? I shoulda done it this morning,
when I
had the chance," commented Franks as he alternately caressed the trigger
with
his index finger.

"NO! Now sit down, damn it. That's not why we're here at the moment, Franks.
You know that. I've explained it to you," Krycek explained. "Now put your
weapon away. I'll keep my eye on Mr. Mulder."

"Yeah, but Mr. Krycek, I don't understand. The bitch wanted nothing to do
with you before, what makes you think she's gonna want to be with you now?"
Franks asked naively as he holstered his gun .

"Because everyone loves a hero, Mr. Franks, that's why. And I shall be a
hero. A true blue hero," he said with his eyes gleaming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam waited in the lab with Scully while her sister-in-law redid some
tests on
the children's blood samples. "I don't understand it," said Samantha, "the
samples showed nothing on the days we drew the samples."

"I believe you, Sam," assured Scully, "but look at them now. Something is
definitely out of whack." The women stared at the nine vials of blood. The
first six definitely looked as though they were placed inside a centrifuge,
even though these were the extra samples and supposedly _nothing_ had been
done with them.

The last three samples in the doctors' possession, unlike the suspension
appearance in the first six samples, looked like normal blood samples.

"Okay, let's compare the first group with the second group and see what the
differences are," suggested Scully. Sam nodded in agreement and set to work
with her sister-in-law. All of Sam's years of experience working in the
clinics of the rebel factions gave Sam an opportunity to do lab work as well
as using her standard medical skills. It came in handy that day, of that
both
Scully and Sam were certain.

Some time later, Skinner walked in and asked if they'd made any
progress. The
doctors nodded simultaneously and shared their findings with the AD. Scully
began. "There's pure carbon in the children's blood samples; at least in the
samples from the first six samples. The older the sample, the more
carbon can
be found."

"Apparently," continued Sam, "carbon starts multiplying. We see significant
multiplying in only in the first two samples, but as the samples age, the
carbon starts multiplying more and more.

"The question is what's the significance of this. Well, our theory is the
carbon's ability to multiply is secondary only to its ability to produce a
matrix; a dam if you will. It's building doors that can be open and shut by
Krycek's little remote control device."

"Is it causing irreparable damage to the children?" asked Skinner.

"I don't know," said Sam. "Jack said it could be repaired, but I honestly
don't know."

"I suspect it depends where the little doors are being shut," interjects
Scully, "and exactly where the blood supply is not being allowed in and out.
If it continues for too long of a period, especially around any brain
tissue,
then the likelihood of permanent damage is higher." She paused for a moment
and then added, "The sooner we can get to Krycek and his remote control, the
sooner our chances are in saving the babies. All of the babies," she
sighed.

"I think we should print out the data and then go check back in with Fox,"
suggested Samantha. She noted the weary look in her sister-in-law's eyes.
They had to find the answers for the children who laid in the isolation
room.
And especially for the baby who had yet to arrive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Part 10/11
Abah 12: And Baby Makes Three
by Susan Proto (STPteach@aol.com)

Disclaimers in Part 1

Part 11/11

Eric walked in calling out to Mulder, "All clear on the western front!"
However, when he actually stepped inside the small room and saw what company
Mulder was 'entertaining', Eric closed his mouth very quickly. All he
thought
was, *So these are the bastards.*

"Come in, come in," sang out Krycek, as he suddenly held up his Glock to
punctuate his invitation. "Please, join the party."

Mulder saw a change of expression occur in Krycek's eyes, and suddenly
Mulder
felt fear. Not for himself, even though the gun Krycek held was pointed
directly at himself, but for the young man who just walked in the room.
Mulder realized Krycek was no idiot. He'd done his research well, and Krycek
knew damn well who Agent Eric Benton was and what his relationship was to
Samantha.

This was not a good situation, but Mulder wasn't exactly in peak physical
shape to do a whole lot about it. He decided diversionary tactics were
probably his best bet until the cavalry joined them.

"Krycek, where' my daughter? Wha' ha'e you done to her? Plea'e, Alex, she'
only fi'e month' old."

"Oh, my, now aren't we becoming friendly. Alex, is it now? I _know_ how old
your daughter is, _Mister_ Mulder," he taunted as he emphasized the civilian
title Mulder now wore. "I planned this as a five month birthday party,
didn't
you figure that out? Oh, I'm sure you did. You're still a smart man, for a
cripple, Mister Mulder__. Oh, wait, I've forgotten. We've become chummy,
right, Fox?"

"Ju't tell me where Sah-wah is, Alex. Tell me where to fin'e her. Plea'e,"
Mulder pleaded. He was finding it harder and harder to maintain a grip
on his
own emotions. He knew he had to keep up his self-control, but Krycek was
using Mulder's helpless infant daughter as a pawn in his sick game.

Eric recognized the look of despair that Mulder was trying so desperately to
take control of, but Eric knew it had to be extremely difficult for
Mulder not
to show his emotions when it came to his own daughter. Eric didn't know
if he
could put up as brave a front as Mulder if that bastard had kidnapped
someone
he loved. Someone like Samantha.

Eric knew something had happened many years ago that took her away from her
family. She'd never went into any great detail, and Eric had decided it
wasn't his place to push. She'd also hinted that it was a rather traumatic
incident that helped her find her way back to her family, but once
again, Sam
never volunteered any specific details, and he had never pressed for any.

Now he wished he had, because Eric Benton wasn't FBI for nothing. Agent
Benton could smell a link between Alex Krycek and Fox Mulder that went way
back beyond this case. Eric also had a suspicion this Alex Krycek was
somehow
linked to Samantha as well. He just wasn't sure how, but he knew he was
going
to find out.

"Krycek, would you just cut the bullshit and tell us where the baby is. You
know you're not going to get away from here, since we've got more bureau
agents crawling in and out of this building than you have hair on that very
bad blond wig you're wearing," Eric said with confidence.

Mulder looked at his colleague with a mixture of admiration and horror.
Benton seemed to really understand Mulder's discomfort with the entire
situation, and that impressed the former agent. However, Mulder did not want
Benton to take it to the next step. At least not until the rest of the team
returned.

Suddenly Mulder had a horrific thought. Skinner had gone to check up on Sam
and Dana's progress. Mulder's stomach began to churn with the notion
that the
three of them would choose to return to the conference room in order to give
him their report face to face. *Shit!* he thought to himself. The last two
people Mulder wanted facing Krycek were Sam and Dana.

Sam was in danger and Dana would probably shoot Krycek before he had a
chance
to tell them where he'd hidden the baby. He had to make sure they weren't
coming downstairs.

"I nee' to use the bat'room,'' announced Mulder. "I'll be righ' back."

"Yeah, right. Mulder, like I'm going to let you go anywhere," Krycek said.

"Loo', where el'e woul' I go? You're the only sonofabitch in the room ot'er
than d'is moron,'' Mulder began and pointed to Franks at that last comment,
"who can tell me where my daughter is. You really don' think I' come back?
Then you fucking are cra'dy."

"Oh, all right, but Franks goes with you,'' Krycek demanded.

"No!" he shouted back. "That ba'tard e'corted me enough for one li'etime,
thank you very much." With that, Mulder did start to push his wheelchair
toward the door. When it became apparent Mulder would need assistance to
open
the door to leave, Eric Benton jumped up quickly to help him.

Unfortunately, Edgar Franks didn't realize the purpose for Benton's very
quick
move; all he thought was the guy was trying to pull a fast one. Mulder
watched in horror as he saw Franks reach into his jacket for his weapon. He
pulled it out and pointed it over Mulder's head and toward Benton.

"NO!" screamed Mulder who realized Benton didn't have a clue as to what was
going down. It was faster to reach for Franks than it was for Benton, and
Mulder stood up and propelled himself into Franks' body in an attempt to
push
the gun up toward the ceiling.

But it didn't work. Benton suddenly saw Mulder leap out of the
wheelchair and
watched as he thrust himself toward the short, portly man. The young agent
hadn't seen the gun in Frank's hand until that very moment when, to Eric's
horror, a shot was fired before Mulder could carry out his intent.

Mulder fell to the ground and blood splattered everywhere. Benton cried out,
"You fucking idiot! What the hell did you do?" and then lunged at him as
well. Benton tried desperately to wrestle the gun out of Franks' hands, all
the while Mulder laid on the floor bleeding from a gunshot wound to the
upper
right corner of his chest.

"Eric, don'T!" he heard Mulder rasp out, but Benton only had eyes for
Franks'
gun. Finally, he felt his hands get a good grip on it, and then, without
warning another shot was fired. It was anyone's guess as to which of the two
men would remain standing.

The door opened immediately after the second shot rang out and in rushed
Skinner. As he entered the room Skinner held his own weapon straight out in
front of him and shouted, "FBI! Drop your weapon!"

He immediately called out to Benton, who turned to verify whose voice he'd
just heard. As he turned, Edgar Franks fell to the ground with a gunshot
wound to the chest.

"Benton, are you okay?" called out Skinner.

"I'm fine," Benton replied, though the tremulous voice he spoke with
threatened to belie that claim. "Mulder. He's been shot."

Skinner turned his head slightly to look at his fallen son-in-law, all the
while keeping his weapon steady and pointed directly at Krycek's head.
"Mulder? How bad?" he asked anxiously.

"No' ba'," he replied breathlessly. Mulder and Skinner both knew Mulder was
lying through his teeth.

"Okay," Skinner replied quickly. "Eric, if you would kindly take
Krycek's gun
from him, we can then get Mulder some help."

"I don't think so," interjected Krycek with a slight smirk, as he
continued to
point his own weapon towards Mulder.

"Krycek, if you don't put the damned weapon down, I will shoot," threatened
Skinner.

"Fine," agreed Krycek amicably, "and then you forfeit all hope of ever
helping
those children. Oh, and I guess you don't need me to tell you where our
latest little victim is being held, do you?" he taunted.

"Damn you, Krycek," he cursed. Skinner realized the rat bastard had the
upper
hand at the moment. Skinner needed him to tell them where Sarah was and to
hand over whatever the hell that machine was that caused the other
children to
be so physically damaged.

He didn't know what to do or say to convince Krycek to give it up. He knew
whatever he did say would most likely fall on indifferent, if not deaf,
ears.
"Krycek, we don't need to let this go any farther. Just drop you gun, and
tell me where Sarah is."

"Now, now, AD Skinner, you are kidding me, aren't you? Of course you are,"
Krycek said with a dry chuckle. "As if I would let this all drop, simply
because you asked me to?

At that moment a low moan was heard. Eric immediately looked first at
Skinner and then Krycek. "He's in a lot of pain," Eric said. "I'm going to
go over to him," Eric said firmly.

"Be my guest, Agent Benton. Be my guest," he said as he waved the younger
agent over to Mulder with his gun. Benton moved quickly to bend over his
fallen colleague. Benton was dismayed to see how shallow Mulder's breathing
had become.

"He needs help, Krycek," Benton said. "He's having trouble breathing."

Skinner gasped slightly as he felt his hands begin to tremble slightly. He
took a deep breath to steady himself and his hands. "How bad is the wound?"
asked Skinner who continued to maintain an alert stance with his own gun
pointed on Krycek..

Benton looked at Mulder and said softly, but clearly, "I need to check the
bullet hole, Mulder. I'll try not to hurt you, okay?"

Mulder understood what Benton said, but he knew it was going to hurt no
matter
what. It hurt like hell while he simply laid there; he could only imagine
what it was going to feel like when Eric tried to move him to examine him.
Mulder tried to take a deep breath in anticipation of the pain, but that
only
caused more discomfort. He was definitely having trouble taking in air.
Damn! Mulder was pretty sure the bullet, at the very least, nicked his
lung.

Benton grasped the ties on the back of the hospital gown and undid them. He
then, as gently as possible, pulled the gown forward and looked at the
entrance wound in his chest.

"Doesn't look too bad, Mulder. Doesn't look too bad at all," the young agent
ascertained naively.

"Hur's to bree'd," Mulder rasped out.

"What?" Benton asked.

"Benton," Skinner interjected quickly since he had understood what
Mulder had
said, "What does the exit wound look like?"

"Exit wound?" he echoed. "I don't know; wait, I'll check." As he grasped
Mulder's shoulder's in order to check, he heard the injured man cry out in
pain. "Mulder, I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm really sorry." Benton finally
moved Mulder enough for him to get a decent view of the exit wound. It
didn't
take long for Benton to figure out the exit wound was a whole lot
messier than
the entrance wound.

"Sir," Benton began, "It's bigger than the entrance wound, that's for sure.
It's a bit ragged, and he's bleeding a lot."

"Shit," Skinner muttered to himself. His arms were getting weary from
holding
the damned gun up at Krycek, and he was getting as frustrated as hell to see
Krycek continue to point his weapon in his direction. This had to end and
then his concern for Mulder kicked into overdrive. "Krycek, we've got to get
him to a doctor. Now."

"AD Skinner," responded Krycek in a pseudo regretful tone. "I'm insulted
that
you would assume I don't want to get these poor men help. Of course I do. I
mean dear old Edgar and I go way, way, back. Of course there's also my
dedicated and gallant former partner who was simply in the wrong place
at the
wrong time, weren't you, Fox?

"No, I want these dear friends of mine to get help. All I'm asking is that
you bring the help _to_ them instead of visa versa. In fact, I know just the
two doctors who would be perfect. Let's page Drs. Mulder and Scully, okay,
Walt? I can call you Walt, can't I?" asked Krycek with a look of great
satisfaction.

"You sonofabitch," Walter growled.

"Now I am insulted, Walt. Look, I'm sure your arms are about ready to fall
off. Put the damn gun down, because remember, you're not going to shoot
me if
you want to know how to save the children. So why don't you simply give it a
rest, okay?"

Skinner looked at Krycek and realized the asshole spoke the truth. There was
no way he could chance fatally wounding Krycek, as he was the only link to
helping cure the children and finding his granddaughter.

"Damn," he muttered as he began to put his weapon back into his holster.

"Umm, Walter? I don't think so. Why don't you just scoot that lil' ol' SIG
over here, and Agent Benton? I think it would probably be a good idea
for you
to send yours on over in this direction too. C'mon boys, let's get this over
with, okay?" cajoled Krycek.

Skinner complied and Eric followed suit. As much as Skinner didn't want to
relinquish his weapon, he didn't feel as if he had much of a choice at this
point. Not if he wanted to ever see his granddaughter again. Not if he were
ever going to get Mulder some medical attention.

The one small consolation Skinner felt was he didn't think Krycek had
anything
to gain by causing them more harm. It was apparent to him Mulder's wounding
was unintentional. Yet, unintentional or not, the man was in pain and losing
a lot of blood.

"Mulder, we're going to get you help," Skinner assured.

"No' Scully, Abah. P'ease. No' Scully or Sam," he pleaded in between pants.

"Mulder, I don't think I'm being given much of a choice. I'm sorry," Skinner
replied. Skinner pointed to his pocket for Krycek's benefit, and cautiously
pulled out his cellular. He dialed Scully's number and waited patiently. The
AD knew she and Sam were waiting, as he'd ordered them to, in the
waiting room
with Maggie. Maggie, still under the weather with the flu, had been
asleep on
the couch.

When Scully heard her phone ring, she picked up immediately and listened to
Skinner explain the situation. She forced herself to remain as calm as
possible when she heard her husband was shot in the chest. "How bad is it,
Abah?" she asked with concern.

"He's bleeding, Dana. I don't know how badly, but he's definitely losing
blood. He's also having some trouble breathing. The sooner we get him some
help, the better, but Krycek wants you and Sam to come to us."

"Abah," Scully said thoughtfully, "I'll go in, but I think it would be best
for Sam to wait here with Mom for now. I don't think we should give Krycek
everything he wants all at once. What do you think?"

"Yes. I'll tell him." He turned to face Krycek and said, "Sam's with a one
of the patients now and is unavailable, but Scully is coming."

"Abah, no!" Mulder whimpered.

"I'm sorry, Fox, but I have no choice." Moments later, Scully came through
the door with a medical emergency kit in tow. She knelt down next to her
husband, not giving Krycek a glance, and examined the wound in her husband's
chest. As she attempted to manipulate him to gain better access, she heard
him moan, and occasionally whimper in pain.

"I'm sorry, Mulder," she murmured over and over again. "Sweetheart,
listen to
me. I'm going to clean the area, and then I'm going to apply a pressure
bandage to try and stop the bleeding a little before we get you into the
emergency room to get this tended to.

"No. You can sew him up here," Krycek demanded.

"I can't just sew him up. He has to have x-rays taken to see how much damage
was done," Scully strongly contradicted.

"Why? You managed to take care of him last time he was shot," responded
Krycek. Scully knew exactly which time he meant.

"We were very, very lucky that time, Krycek. But I don't know if that's the
case this time. His back is really chewed up which indicates the bullet
did a
lot of traveling inside his chest and got all bent and misshapen. I can't
tell whether his lung is collapsed or whether his rib was cracked or if
any of
the arteries were ruptured. Krycek, please. I've got to get him into the
ER."

"I don't think so, Dana. I don't think Sarah would want her mommy and daddy
to leave me just this moment," taunted Krycek.

Something in Walter Skinner snapped when he heard those words. It was bad
enough the man was holding them all hostage with a gun. But now he was
holding them hostage with threats about his five month old granddaughter.

The AD glared at the man whose words cut through all of their souls. He
stood up in one fluid motion and walked toward him. For the second time that
day, he found himself reaching for someone's throat. Krycek's expression was
just as Skinner hoped it would be. Shock. Surprise. Pain.

Walter was prepared to strangle the bastard with his bare hands if he
had to,
when he became momentarily distracted by the opening of a door.

"Mr. Skinner, I don't think choking Mr. Krycek will help us find Sarah,"
said
a familiar, clipped tone of voice.

"I don't know about that Stein. I think it might help us quite a bit, don't
you Krycek," Skinner asked angrily as he squeezed his hands tighter
around the
young man's neck. Skinner felt a grin begin to form when he heard Krycek
make
choking sounds.

"Walter, just stop. How is that going to help us find Sarah?" asked
Elizabeth
angrily. "He's got my granddaughter and you think you're going to find
her by
choking him to death? What the hell is the matter with you?" she asked
shrilly.

"What's the matter with me, Elizabeth?" he echoed incredulously. "I want
this
bastard to fix the broken bodies of the nine babies who are literally
vegetating in the other room, but mostly, I want _my_ granddaughter back.
That, is what is the matter with me today," replied the AD through clenched
teeth.

Elizabeth drew a breath and released it slowly. She did not miss his
intentional emphasis on the personal pronoun 'my.' It had been a long time
since someone had spoken in that tone of voice to Elizabeth Mulder; she
hadn't
missed that in the least either.

Walter Skinner had become, if not just a doting grandparent, certainly a
possessive one. Elizabeth, however, actually understood the passion with
which Skinner spoke. She too desperately wanted her granddaughter returned
safely, though she knew of no way to guarantee it. She could no more trust
Alex Krycek than she could trust _anyone_ in the consortium at that moment.

Not even Jack. Not totally at least.

"I think we need to find out exactly what Mr. Krycek is looking to gain from
all of this, before we go and strangle him, Walter," said Jack calmly.
"Perhaps we could settle this matter quickly and amicably."

"Why, Stein, you little negotiator you! I didn't realize you had it in you,"
Krycek said in a patronizing tone of voice.

While Jack and Krycek were bantering back and forth, Scully tended to
Mulder.
She feared he might start to seize, if not for the stress of the situation,
then as a result of going into shock. She spoke in soothing tones to
him, and
tried to offer him hope that she would get him something for the pain soon.

It slowly dawned on Elizabeth she heard voices below her and looked
down. She
saw Dana leaning over her son and she then gasped at the sight of pool of
blood he laid in. She hadn't been aware he'd been hurt, and this was the
first moment she realized he was wounded. The elder Mulder felt her stomach
begin to knot up in an old, familiar manner, as it had during all of the
times
her son was hurt or in danger, and she could do little to prevent or fix
it.

Elizabeth was about to ask Dana how Fox was when her thoughts were
interrupted
by Krycek.

"What do I want? What the hell do you care what I want, Stein? Why the hell
should you care?" Krycek lambasted. "You're nothing to these people, you
know that don't you? You're about as worthless a piece of shit as I am, so
don't pretend you're better than me. You're not. You know if you'd gotten
your hands on the nanomachines you'd have gone about testing it with the
best
of them, so don't tell me you're willing to settle this amicably.

"Shit." Krycek paused to catch his breath when he suddenly said, "Where the
hell is Samantha? She should be done with her God damned patient by now. I
want her in here. I want her in here now, or else!"

"Or else what, Krycek?" demanded Scully, who was now desperate to get a very
shocky Mulder the hell out of there.

"Or else all the little babies get 'Nano-Nano'd', Dr. Scully. Do you know
what that means? The little technological beasties will turn every
little red
blood cell to carbon and effectively shut down the blood flow for every
single
one of the little darlings. And I do mean _every_ single one," he said
threateningly.

Scully looked up in horror as a thought suddenly dawned on her. "You
sonofabitch! Sarah is here! She's here in the hospital! Ohmigod, where is
she?" she screamed.

Skinner also began to see red. "Damn you, Krycek!" As he began to rise and
walk near him again, Krycek whipped out a small, black control box and
held it
up menacingly for all to see.

"C'mon, Walter! Come to Alex, and we'll see what these little suckers can
really do!" Alex now held the remote control device securely in one hand and
his Glock 19 gun in the other.

"Sonofabitch!" Skinner screamed at the top of his lungs as he took all
of two
long strides to reach Krycek and turn him around so Skinner now stood behind
him. Next, he wrapped his large, right arm around the little traitor's neck
in a secure headlock, while he squeezed the bastard's chest tightly with his
left.

Krycek actually dropped his gun, but he maintained a firm grip on the remote
device. Skinner began to squeeze tightly with both arms, when the little
bastard started sputtering, breathlessly, "Sarah! I'm. The. Only. One. Who.
Knows. Where. She . Is."

Skinner released the pressure just enough so he was able to maintain control
over Krycek's movement, but still allow the low-life to breathe. As Krycek
felt his ability to breathe return, he reacted and blurted out, "Shmuck."
Skinner was about to return to his death grip when the door swung open
suddenly.

Samantha walked in breathlessly, having forgotten just how tenuous a
situation
she was walking into, since she was eager to share her news. However, as she
quickly took in the scene, Sam realized the news she wanted to share had
to be
saved for later.

She saw blood everywhere. She recognized Edgar Franks from all those years
ago, now laying flat on his back with a huge hole in his chest. Next,
she saw
Dana hovering over a badly wounded Fox, and noted her mother and Jack were
standing nearby.

Sam was a doctor, trained to heal, but at that moment all she wanted to
do was
kill the piece of shit standing in front of her for putting her family
through
hell again. She didn't think. She simply screamed and lunged right for him.
She began to pummel his chest in raw anger, and screamed at him in fits of
rage.

Krycek was so taken aback by the sudden attack, he actually dropped the
remote. Skinner strengthened his hold on the little scum bag and allowed
Samantha to vent all of her anger and fear on him.

Finally, after several minutes had passed, and Samantha looked as if she was
ready to collapse, Eric hurried over to her and pulled her gently away.
Skinner called out loud, "All clear!" and the remaining members of the team
entered the room. They moved in quickly and grabbed Krycek. He was
immediately lowered to the floor with his arms behind him in order to cuff
him. Benton handed Skinner his pair of cuffs so he could do the honors.

Next, Thornwood, with the help of Sorenson, pulled Krycek up to a standing
position. Hill stood in front of the perpetrator and read him his rights.
Benton then picked up the Glock and the remote control device and handed
them
to Skinner.

Skinner gave the gun to Hill for evidence, but Skinner held on to the remote
control. He looked at Krycek, and in a voice that belied his true
feelings of
contempt, said, "Krycek, where is Sarah Mulder?"

"Go to hell!" he blurted out.

"Walter, it doesn't matter what he says," Sam interjected in a slightly
mocking tone.

"You BITCH!" cried out Alex. "You were a bitch then, and you're a bitch now!
You've blown it, sweetheart. You've screwed your chances of ever hearing
from
me where your precious little Sarah is."

"Oh, but as I just said, it doesn't matter what you have to say on the
matter.
I _know_ where our Sarah is." She allowed her words to sink in Krycek's mind
for a couple of seconds before she continued. "She's in the arms of her very
loving, doting Grandma Maggie, even as we speak." Sam looked at him with a
scornful grin.

"Sam? Really?" asked Dana.

"Yes, she really is in Maggie's arms," Sam assured them with a broad smile.
"One of the maintenance men found her in a broom closet of all places. Very
close to the quarantined area.

"Oh, Mulder, did you hear that, sweetheart? Sarah's safe in Mom's arms,"
Scully whispered to her now very dazed husband who was very much in
shock from
the blood loss and internal injuries. Suddenly, Scully looked at Sam and
asked, "But what about the nanomachines? Was Sarah infected with it?"

"No," she answered, all the while looking at Krycek. "Since we knew what we
were looking for, we were able to test for the carbons, and she tested
normally, Dana. I guess he never had a chance to infect her, or perhaps he
never intended to infect her. I suppose it doesn't really matter at this
point, does it?"

Scully shook her head in agreement. At that point all that did matter
was her
daughter was safe, and she could now get her husband some medical help.

Unbelievable, isn't it?" acknowledged Sam. Next, the young MD turned to her
mother and Jack. "Okay, you two seemed to know what the hell Krycek's little
'Playstation' gizmo is for, so how do we use it to heal the children?"

Sam began to hand it over to Jack, but it was Elizabeth Mulder who quickly
took it in hand. "Dear daughter," Elizabeth said with a lightness she hadn't
thought she'd ever feel again, "do you think you inherited only your good
looks from me? Jack wouldn't know where to even put the batteries." With the
news of her granddaughter's return, she was finally able to breath a sigh of
relief and found herself even smiling.

Even Stein had to chuckle at that, because he knew Elizabeth was absolutely
right. Stein had always played the role of the negotiator, and if necessary,
the enforcer throughout the history of the consortium. But once Samantha had
been actually taken, Elizabeth became one of the brains of the project in a
cool, albeit at times abject, manner.

She examined the remote box carefully and began to push buttons with
confidence. "Samantha, I would go check on those children. I believe you'll
now find the babies responding more normally. And , Dana?" Elizabeth looked
at her daughter-in-law with a renewed sense of relief. "Don't you think it's
time to get Fox taken care of? You don't want an infection to set in." She
waited to see an almost imperceptible nod from both her daughter and
daughter-
in-law.

"Now," Elizabeth continued with a small smile, "If you don't mind, I'd
like to
go see my granddaughter. Jack? Are you coming?"

"Yes, my dear, of course."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Walter had finally managed to close his gaping mouth, he and a
couple of
the other members of the team helped to first get Mulder, as well as Franks,
onto a couple of gurneys. They were too late to do anything to help Franks,
as he'd died earlier in the conference room.

Mulder, however, was rushed right through to X-ray. The doctors discovered
the bullet did indeed nip hit the lung which caused a pneumothorax, but
nothing a little surgery to inflate the collapsed lung couldn't cure.
Unfortunately, Mulder would probably have to endure a longer hospital stay
because of it, but Mulder would adapt. He'd had enough practice at it.

Dr. Samantha Mulder was able to report to the nine families their children
were apparently on the road to recovery. No one could be positive, nor
guarantee the nanomachines didn't remain within the children's bodies, but
since the children displayed remarkable recuperative powers, no one
complained.

Agent Eric Benton officially went off duty at one minute past midnight. He
asked Dr. Mulder for a much longed for, eagerly awaited date. She accepted.

Elizabeth Mulder kissed her son on the forehead and wished him good luck in
his recovery. She then took the opportunity to see and hold her only
granddaughter just until the child began squalling, and then immediately
left
on the next private flight Jack was able to arrange for her.

Agents Hill and Benton as well as Sorenson and Thornwood hauled a rather
somber Alex Krycek off to jail. For just how long was anyone's guess.

Walter Skinner saw his granddaughter being held in the loving arms of his
wife. He picked up the baby, held her, cooed to her, and generally made the
prerequisite shmoopy grandparent sounds to the child, and then with great
happiness and relief turned her over to her eagerly awaiting parents. Walter
Skinner then took his still very much flu bitten wife home to bed for much
needed rest.

Exactly who needed the rest more was up for grabs at that moment.

Dana Scully saw to it that her husband and daughter were safely tucked
in for
the night. Mulder was in his hospital bed and hooked up to IV's. One
contained healthful, healing antibiotics, while the other one contained the
good drugs; the really good drugs.

Their infant daughter had been checked from head to toe by her doting
and very
thorough Doctor Auntie. She was then safely ensconced in a soft pink blanket
and gently laid in a bassinet the hospital staff had graciously placed in
Mulder's room. Dana then sat curled up in a chair between them, with a
borrowed pillow and blanket.

Tomorrow, she would return home with her family, but tonight she simply
kept a
sleepy, but watchful, eye on both of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Part 11/11

THE END